Pediatric and Adult Dosage Calculations Based on Body Weight (Nursing)

00:01 Hi. Welcome to our video on dosage calculations.

00:04 All right, take a deep breath.

00:08 I know every nursing program usually has a dosage calculation test that you have to pass before you can go to clinicals.

00:16 We're here for you.

00:17 So, we're going to walk you through this step-by-step.

00:20 Even if math intimidates you, I promise you, we're going to walk you through each step.

00:26 Give you opportunities to practice.

00:28 You're going to nail this by the time you're done with our series.

00:31 We're going to start in this series with an adult and pediatric dosages based on body weight.

00:37 All right, so let's get started.

00:39 Now, first we're going to start with one of our friends, nurse Natalie.

00:42 She is right there. Look how warm and friendly she is.

00:44 Don't worry.

00:45 If you've got that math phobia that most of us have, we're going to help you resolve that.

00:50 Okay, so the first and most important thing whenever we're talking about medication administration is safety.

00:57 We're looking for safety first.

01:00 We're looking for finding a safe dose for patients often requires us as nurses to calculate the doses based on body weight particularly with our young pediatric patients.

01:12 So, if that's a desire of yours, you'll be doing this a lot.

01:15 Now, neonates and infants are usually weighed in kilograms.

01:21 In America, we don't do a lot in the metric system.

01:24 But in the hospital, we really do.

01:26 So, kilogram is something I want you getting used to using if you haven't already.

01:31 Now, we shorten the word kilogram like kg. That's just an abbreviation.

01:36 So, whether you see kilogram or kg, you'll know that that's about a thousand grams.

01:42 That's what that represents.

01:43 Adults, you'll see their weight in pounds or kilograms.

01:47 Hey, trust me.

01:48 You're going to like how your weight looks in kilograms much more than you do in pounds.

01:53 Now, when you calculate doses, we're going to have to probably convert weight because the doses will be calculated in micrograms or milligrams by weight.

02:04 So, it will be micrograms or milligrams per kilogram or pound.

02:08 Okay. So walk with me.

02:10 Our little guys will probably be weighed in kilograms, but if they're not, we'll teach you how to convert it.

02:15 Adults will be weighed in pounds or kilograms.

02:19 You probably know that we abbreviate pounds like lb.

02:22 But when we're going to calculate the doses, that might be micrograms or milligrams per kilogram or pound per day.

02:32 Now, that might still sound a little bit confusing for you.

02:35 Don't worry about it.

02:36 Remember, we're going to break this down step-by-step.

02:39 I'm right here with you.

02:40 I share the same math phobias.

02:42 So, if I can walk you through this, I know you're going to be just fine.

02:46 Now, especially for pediatric patients, you may see some reference to the total daily dose which can be divided into a certain number of doses.

02:54 So, they might give you an order and say they want you to divide this into more than one individual dose.

03:00 So, I'll teach you how to look at a drug label because they have lots of directions on them.

03:05 I'll help you see what the most important points are.

03:08 So, total daily doses might be divided into more than one individual dose.

03:12 All right, before we move on from here, stay with us.

03:16 I want you to think through each one of these boxes.

03:18 Are there any notes you need to make to yourself? Recognize under the first box where it says usually weight in kilogram, write the word kg by that just so you're clear that that's an abbreviation that we use.

03:29 In the second box where we talk about weighing pounds or kilograms, write the word lb there, even if you already knew that just to kind of keep things consistent in your notes.